


Five Dates

by hanbunnotsuki



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Dates, M/M, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-08-17 13:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8145451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanbunnotsuki/pseuds/hanbunnotsuki
Summary: “So? What was your answer? You did say no properly, right? It’s just Lance.” “Actually… Lance didn’t let me give him an answer.”At Keith’s questioning raise of an eyebrow, Shiro shrugs and explains. “He said he wanted to go on five dates with me, see how they go, and only then can I make a decision.”----------------When Lance asks Shiro out, Keith is somehow pulled into going along with them on five dates. And when Shiro backs out, Keith is the one who steps in to save the day.





	1. Netflix & No Chill

**Author's Note:**

> There are other things that I need to do, but here I am again with another Klance fic. Help me out of this hell. I actually wanted to make this Ten Dates, but I can’t write long fics to save a life so I didn’t aim high and changed it to five. 
> 
> Just to note that any Shiro/Lance in this fic is one-sided and it will end up being Klance. 
> 
> This fic is still a WIP, and I make no promises on when I’ll be able to update, but I’ll try my hardest to. Enjoy!

It's Friday night.

 

What better way to welcome the weekend than lying on the sofa, playing games? And that's what Keith has been doing the past half-hour, playing Disney TsumTsum absentmindedly as he waits for his body to go hungry.

 

Keith looks up from his phone at the sound of the door opening. It's probably Shiro, home from his afternoon shift at the coffee shop. Sitting up from the sofa, Keith was about to greet Shiro but the words died on his lips the moment he takes a look at his roommate's face.

 

There's a complicated expression on him–distraught, even stricken.

 

"Shiro? What's wrong?"

 

Shiro startles, as if just noticing Keith's presence in the room, and turns to face Keith with a guarded smile. “Oh hey, Keith."

 

“Did something happen?"

 

“Why would you say that? Nothing happened."

 

When Shiro looks away from Keith squinting at him, Keith knows for sure that something _did_ happen.

 

“Was there a shitty customer?” It wouldn’t have been the first time. There were always shitty customers popping out everywhere, but usually Shiro can handle them just fine.

 

“No, no. I just, uh, got asked out. By a customer.” Rubbing the back of his neck, Shiro throws uncertain glances at Keith.

 

There are quite a number of customers who do go there just for the privilege of ogling Shiro. Keith's no stranger to the sight of Shiro being called aside to be confessed to by numerous girls and the occasional boys. Usually, Shiro just let them down gently, and carries on with his work, completely unfazed. He wonders how this time is different.

 

"And?"

 

There's a long beat of Shiro's contemplating what to do. Or what to say. Keith's been his friend for so long that he can read his face without any effort anymore.

 

"And that customer is...Lance."

 

At the mention of that one name, Keith’s lips curl in distaste.

 

 _Lance_. Of course.

 

The guy has the tendency to bring about trouble around him. Keith hasn't known Lance for long–they became acquaintances through Pidge, who befriended Hunk through Robotics club, who came as one package with Lance. They're all friends. ...kind of.

 

Keith’s been hanging out with Shiro and Pidge since forever, and Shiro with Pidge’s brother Matt. Rather than friends, they’re more like siblings.

 

Hunk is a sweet guy, who cares a lot for his friends and makes great food. Anybody would be grateful to be in his presence and be showered with mouth-watering meals every time they visit his place. He’s a great friend.

 

Then there’s Lance. Lance is…just so _Lance_. He flirts with girls all the time, striking stupid poses, sending stupid winks and stupid finger guns and stupid puns, even when the other party is obviously not interested. He always cuts in whenever Keith is trying to have a conversation with Shiro, sometimes just to make shameless passes at Shiro, and he always challenges Keith to everything because of their supposed ‘rivalry’. To say they are friends is like stretching a very, very thin thread.

 

Lance. _Ugh._

 

Keith has been gritting his teeth unconsciously as he recounts just what an annoying little shit Lance can be. When he feels Shiro’s searching look, he tries to make his face look somewhat neutral and concentrate on Shiro.

 

“So? What was your answer? You did say no properly, right? It’s just Lance.”

 

“Actually… Lance didn’t let me give him an answer.”

 

At Keith’s questioning raise of an eyebrow, Shiro shrugs and explains. “He said he wanted to go on five dates with me, see how they go, and only then can I make a decision.”

 

That sounds like something Lance would typically do. Stubbornly persistent, and just unable to give something a rest.

 

“If you’re so bothered about it, I’ll get him to stop.” Keith offers, getting a shake of the head in return.

 

“It’s fine. Actually, we’ve already planned a date for this Sunday.” There’s that look Shiro puts on whenever he’s going to ask Keith a favor.

 

“...and?”

 

“And I asked Lance whether you can be there too. And he agreed.”

 

_Goddammit, Shiro._

 

“Wait, what? Why do _I_ need to go with you on your date?!” Keith bursts out, crossing his arms and pursing his lips into a thin line.

 

“If you were there, then the date wouldn’t be so awkward. We’re only planning to watch a movie here at our apartment anyway, so you won’t even need to go out.” Shiro pauses for a moment and steps forward, his hand gripping Keith’s forearm. “Please?”

 

Keith glares at the man for a moment before finally heaving out a sigh. He can never say no to Shiro’s plead for help. And he does look quite frazzled by this whole ordeal. The things Keith do for his friends.

 

“Fine, but you’ll owe me one.”

 

\--------------------

 

Saturday passes at a blink of an eye, and all of a sudden Sunday afternoon is here.  
  


Shiro’s preparing some popcorn while Keith lounges on the sofa, flicking through Netflix to see if there’s something worth watching. If he’s going to be the third wheel on this ‘date’, he’ll at least do it while watching a good movie.  
  


_The Breakfast Club..? Nah, too classic. Maybe something with more action…_

 

_Ding dong!_

 

At the sound of the doorbell, Shiro’s head pops out of the kitchen door. “Keith, can you help me get that? It should be Lance.”

 

Putting the remote on the coffee table, Keith gets up from the sofa with a grumble. Apparently, being the third wheel on a date also means becoming an errand boy.

 

Keith swings open the door to reveal Lance, whose smile quickly dims when he realizes it’s not Shiro, but Keith opening the door. He’s holding two boxes of pizza which Keith eyes with interest. Anything might happen within the next few hours, but at least there’ll be pizza.

 

“Oh. ‘sup, mullet man?”

 

Keith frowns at the nickname, but decided not to comment. He just wants this to be over quickly, and with minimum conflict. “Come on in, Lance.”

 

“Hey, Lance! I’m just getting the popcorn ready.” Shiro says from the direction of the kitchen, without making an appearance. “Go make yourself comfortable and pick a movie with Keith.”

 

At the sound of Shiro’s voice, Lance’s smile suddenly becomes _bright_ again. A light blush colors his cheek as he bites his lower lips, his excitement so apparent like a little kid in a toy store. The change of expression came so unexpectedly, Keith was left staring a little.

 

“Okay Shiro, take your time!!” Lance answers and quickly skips to the sofa and flops on it, putting the pizzas on the coffee table. Keith follows him soon after, grabbing the remote before Lance can get his hand on it. “Sooooo, what are we watching tonight?”

 

“I thought you’d want to pick the movie. Why do I have to pick?” Keith says flatly. Though he wouldn’t actually let Lance pick. He’ll just pick How To Train Your Dragon, like he always do whenever it’s his turn to choose when they’re having movie night. “Why am I here anyway…”

 

“Hey! You should feel honored that I let you pick the movie! Or for even inviting you to my and Shiro’s date!!”

 

“Wasn’t that Shiro’s idea?”

 

“Well, yeah! But. I said yes. So.” Lance rolls his eyes and let out a huff.

 

There was a silence where Keith continues flicking through titles after title and Lance gets more and more agitated, a scowl plastered on his face, his fists keep clenching and unclenching.

 

Lance then breaks, and he splutters his words with whispered voice. “Alright, fine, I actually did research on what the best movie for dates is but there are a gazillion different movies and I’m not sure which one Shiro would like, so would you just stop going through the whole Netflix and just pick one?! For the sanity of my soul!!”

 

Keith’s eyes widened at Lance’s outburst. Lance groans, his fists gripping the hem of his shirt hard.

 

“I’m just–I’m just really, really nervous, okay?” Lance whines, covering his face with his palms. “Did Shiro say anything about me...? This is too weird, isn’t it? He must be bothered by this, isn’t he??” He peeks through his fingers, looking at Keith for confirmation.

 

Keith wanted to say yes, yes Shiro is very bothered with this whole thing, Lance, just cut this whole date thing out.

 

But for some reason, Keith just couldn’t.

 

Not after that beaming smile Lance displayed when he heard Shiro’s voice. Not after knowing just how much this date is making Lance nervous.

 

Not after realizing that Lance is not just playing around, like Keith assumed him to.

 

Which means…

 

“Oh, you got us pizza! You shouldn’t have, Lance.” Shiro appears with two bowls of popcorn, handing one to Keith, hovering over Lance. Shiro knows very well Keith’s tendency to hoard popcorn. Keith can’t help but notice Lance’s cheek darkening. “So what are we going to watch?”

 

...which means Lance really _does_ like Shiro.

 

“How To Train Your Dragon.” Keith promptly announces, pointedly ignoring Lance’s scandalized face.

 

“That sounds great, I like that movie. You like it too, don’t you Lance?” When Shiro turns to him, Lance’s face reverts back to his resting face.

 

“Yeah, sure. Like it. Love it. Yep.” Lance’s voice comes out a little strangled.

 

“Damn, I forgot to get us drinks. Is hot chocolate okay with you two?” Keith hums nonchalantly, his fingers working on finding the movie, while Lance just nods enthusiastically. “Alright, I’ll be right back!”

 

The moment Shiro smiles and heads back to the kitchen, Keith can feel fingers clenching on his arm.

 

“How To Train Your Dragon??? Really dude??” Lance hisses under his breath, his eyes frantic.

 

“What? I thought you liked that movie.” He slaps Lance’s prying hand away, earning him an indignant gasp.

 

“Well, hell yeah. It’s the greatest movie ever made in history. But we’ve watched that for like a thousand times!”

 

“And whose fault is that?” Keith grumbles.

 

“Shut up. But what if!! What if Shiro’s got so bored of it already and he falls asleep when we’re watching??”

 

“Not my problem.”

 

“You little bast–”

 

“Sorry to keep you waiting!” Balancing three mugs in his hand, Shiro sits down next to Lance, the only spot left available on the sofa. Lance quickly zips his mouth shut, and his expression quickly loses its edges, softening into a smile. “Are we ready to go?”

 

“Sure.” Keith says, grunting a thanks as he accepts his mug of hot choc, his other hand cradling his bowl of popcorn possessively.

 

With a hit of the button, the movie plays. Keith digs into his popcorn.

 

It’s not that the movie is bad, not really. It’s great. It’s just that they’ve seen it so many times that Keith can predict what the character is going to say next at times. Not exactly entranced with the movie, Keith watches Lance instead.

 

As he predicted, Lance starts to unfurl. His previous state of frayed nerves slowly melts and his body starts to relax, even laughing along with the movie. Sometimes, when Lance reaches for popcorn, his hand would graze Shiro’s and he’ll duck his head and smile that unfamiliar shy smile–

 

Alright, back to the movie.

 

Keith chomps on the pizza and popcorn all the way to the end of the movie, chugging down his hot choc moments before it gets cold. It was quiet, without Pidge and Hunk dramatically acting out scenes from the movies, and Lance’s usual constant commentary. Keith and Shiro are generally quiet during movies, but Lance is uncharacteristically so today.

 

And after a quick cleanup, it was time for Lance to go home.

 

“Thanks for having me over, guys. I had a great time.” Lance says as he zips up his jacket by the front door.

 

“Anytime, Lance. And thanks for pizza.” Shiro then looks a little uncertain, and he speaks up again. “Um, Lance? So about this...are we doing this again?”

 

“Oh. Um. We can go get pancakes next time? Next sunday morning?” Lance’s gaze then darts to meet Keith’s and at that moment he blurts out, “Keith can come too!”

 

Keith’s eyes widens in disbelief, and he raises his arms to gesture what-the-fuck to the stupid guy he’s apparently going to have pancakes with next Sunday. The guy who’s supposed to be on a date with his roommate. The guy who is blissfully ignoring Keith’s bewilderment right now. Unbelievable.

 

“That sounds great! Isn’t that right, Keith?” The relief is so obvious in Shiro’s voice that Keith just sends him a withering look.

 

“Yeah. Pancake sounds great.” Keith deadpans, not even putting a shred of effort to sound excited. “Yay.”

 

“Okay, then. I’ll see you guys later! Bye, guys!”  

 

As the door closes behind Lance, Shiro lets out a heavy sigh. “Well, that wasn’t as awkward as I thought it would be.”

 

Keith hums in agreement, leaning his weight against the wall and stares at Shiro. “How many dates did you promise him again?”

 

“...five.”

 

“You’ll owe me _big time._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always feel like I’m butchering Lance’s character and I’m so scared of ruining him because he’s my fav son, I just want to do him justice


	2. Halloween Pancakes

“You’re going on a what now?

“A date. Well, Shiro and Lance are going on a date. I’m just coming along.” 

“So are you three gonna…” Pidge moves her hands around, gesturing whatever it is she’s trying to say. Keith can guess.

“ _ No. _ ” Keith groans, wrinkling his face. “Ew. No. With Shiro? That’s just wrong, Pidge.”

“So you’re saying you’re okay with it if it’s just Lance?” Pidge wiggles her eyebrows.

“I did not say that.” 

“You so did, my friend.”

When Keith throws a pillow at her, Pidge just dodges with a cackle.

“Be serious, Pidge. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do, I mean,” Keith catches the pillow Pidge throws back at him with ease and proceeds to hug it to his chest, leaning his back against Pidge’s bed. “Lance seems sincere. He wasn’t posing, or doing that stupid mate dance he always does whenever a breathing, living female appears.”

“Well yeah, everyone knows Lance’s got the hugest thing for Shiro since like forever, so it’s not really a revelation. Apparently everyone except for you, Mr. Dense-head.” Pidge rolls over from the end side of the bed closer to Keith, her head hanging over the edge. She reaches out and pokes Keith on the cheek. “You really don’t have to do anything, you know.”

“If I don’t, the date is going to be a disaster.” Recalling Lance’s panicking face the other night convinces Keith of it. “And when things go downhill, I’ll be sucked into the vortex of extreme awkwardness, and I will not subject myself to that.”

“You have a point there.” Pidge admits, humming contemplatively in agreement. “But what are you gonna do? Plan the whole date?”

Before Keith can answer, there’s a constant buzzing coming from his phone, vibrating from his pocket. He pulls it out to receive the call, noticing Lance’s name on the screen briefly before sliding his finger over it.

“Lance?”

_ “Keith, my man! How’s it going!!”  _ Lance’s awfully-fake cheerful voice rings out of the speaker. 

“Lance, what the hell?”

_ “You’re doing good? Sweet, sweet. I’m doing good as well!”  _ It’s like listening to a car salesman who goes on and on without paying a heed on what you’re saying.

“I’m hanging up.”

_ “Wait, don’t! I’m not doing good! I’m not doing good at all, don’t hang up on me!”  _ Dragging the last word, Lance’s fake cheer crumbles and rapidly turns into desperation. 

“What do you want, Lance?” Keith says exasperatedly. 

_ “Peace and quiet for the world, but we can’t all have everything, can we?”  _ Keith was about to threaten to hang up again when he hears Lance heaving out a deep sigh.  _ “No, sorry. I’m being a little bitch. God.”  _

“Stop freaking out for one minute and tell me why you’re calling.”

_ “Alright, alright, sheesh. So you know we’re gonna go grab some pancakes, yeah? In...wait today’s Thursday, so Friday, Saturday, Sunday...in three days holy shit. Two and a half days, but who’s counting.”   _

“Yeah, pancakes on Sunday. And?”

_ “So, uh, do you know any pancake place that Shiro might like? Somewhere trendy where hip people might go?” _

“You don’t have a place in mind?” Somehow, deep down Keith has predicted this would happen. He stifles down a sigh. 

_ “Yeah, no. Why do you think I’m flying off the handle right now?! The date’s in two and a half day, Keith! Two and a half!!” _

“And what do you want me to do about it?” It’s not even Keith’s date, for god’s sake. Is this how the rest of their dates are going to be? Shiro going with the flow, Lance freaking out, and Keith doing all the work.

_ “Keith, my man. Can you be a bro and look up a place? I’ll go crazy if I have to take another look at that goddamn pancake recommendation site, I’m not kidding, I didn’t know there are that many pancake shops in our area. Please?”  _ Lance begs at the end, his voice turning into a squeak.

It should’ve sounded pathetic. The great Lance McClain lowering himself and asking for Keith’s help? Keith would’ve scoffed at that immediately, but what he feels instead is his chest tightening at that damned sound. It doesn’t help that he can clearly imagine Lance’s puppy eyes which he often brings down on Hunk, whenever the guy asks for an extra helping of Hunk’s food. It’s so effective that Hunk almost never refuses to give in.

“Fine. I’ll text you later with the details.”

_ “Oh thank god, you’re a lifesaver. Thanks so much, buddy!”  _ Lance’s relief pours through the speaker of the phone.  _ “I’ll be waiting with clenched teeth.” _

Keith imagines that’s exactly what Lance is going to do. 

“Alright.” Hanging up the call, Keith finds Pidge staring at him intensely. “What?”

“I heard every single word of that conversation, Keith. Don’t ‘what’ me.”

That just makes Keith even more confused. “No seriously, what??”

“You’re seriously going to plan the date?” Pidge says impassively, her eyes squinting.

“Apparently.” Keith answers curtly, rolling his eyes.

“You braved through another run of How To Train Your Dragon on your... _ their _ first date. And now you’re going to look for a place for the second.”

“Yes?” Keith doesn’t know where this is going, so he squints back at Pidge.

“Why Keith? Why go through all these lengths?” There’s that tone Pidge has, where she’s trying to get Keith to learn something, but Keith hasn’t the slightest idea what it is. 

“I’ve told you, I don’t want the date to fall through and having to suffer it with them.” Pidge hums, looking unimpressed by his answer. “And I’m being a decent friend to Lance. ‘Being a bro’, like he said.”

Keith leaves out the part where he actually enjoys it when Lance is not all huffy and bristling in Keith’s presence––though that’s probably only due to the fact that he was distracted by Shiro. And it’s nice, seeing Lance...content, even just for a brief while. Though it’s probably only because Shiro was there. And being relied on by Lance who’s so keen on the whole rivalry thing between them is something.

“Keith, just last week you were saying, and I quote, ‘ _ I’m going to kill that little piece of shit he is not a friend he is the nemesis  _ because you guys fell off a ditch when Lance challenged you to a bicycle race.”

“...and since we’re friends, we’ve gotten over that.” Keith looks away from Pidge’s gaze. 

“Uh huh. Sure.” Pidge won’t quit giving him a disbelieving stare, and Keith keeps feeling that there’s something he’s missing from this conversation. 

“Alright, I’m gonna head back now. Shiro should be home in a bit.” Keith says, standing up and stretching out his arms.

“Okay. Go do your thing, Keith. Go and find the perfect date spot for your ‘friend’.”

Feeling immature, Keith sticks out a tongue at Pidge and gets a weird face back. Sometimes he questions his choice of friends.

 

\-------------

 

Lance was not kidding when he said the number of pancake shops in the area is overwhelming. Pancakes make good business, he supposes.

Keith takes a deep breath and re-types the search phrase. 

_ best pancakes store for dates _

Again, hundreds of results come up, making Keith let out a groan. There’s no other choice but to go through them. 

Scrolling and clicking and skimming, Keith was about to go  _ fuck it _ and pick one in random when an article catches his eyes.

 

_ ‘Popular Halloween Special Pancake is coming back this October!’  _

 

The title looks promising, and so Keith clicks it and reads the whole article, then checking the store’s website. And the more he reads, the more he’s sure that this is the perfect one. This is where they’re going to go on Sunday.

He reaches for his phone and texts Lance’s the name and address of the store. His phone pings almost immediately after, notifying Lance’s reply. Keith raises an eyebrow at that. 

 

**Lance 21:34PM**

thanks buddy, i owe u one! >:3

 

**sending to Lance 21:35PM**

were you waiting for my text the whole time? with clenched teeth?

 

**Lance 21:35PM**

wat? pfft of course not y wud u think that i was just chillin

 

**Lance 21:37PM**

k fine no i was not chillin n my teeth were clenched happy?

 

**sending to Lance 21:38PM**

very

 

**Lance 21:40PM**

ur an ass. looked up the store n it looks good!! hv u told shiro abt it?

 

**sending to Lance 21:42PM**

not yet, you go tell him

 

**Lance 21:43PM**

u live w/ him! just go to his room n tell him now!! D:

 

Keith scowls at the screen at Lance’s latest reply, and quickly types back his response.

 

**sending to Lance 21:43PM**

you’re the one on a date with him, you go tell him

 

**Lance 21:44PM**

asnfdlkj; fine :(((((

 

**Lance 21:50PM**

i might or might hv not thrown my phone at the w/ a manly shriek after sending shiro the txt

 

**Lance 21:51PM**

hunk even knocked on my room to check on me but evryth is fine my phone is fine

 

**Lance 22:00PM**

KEITH R U THERE SHIRO HASNT REPLIED WHY ISNT HE REPLYING

 

**Lance 22:04PM**

KEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIITTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

Keith, who just got back from brushing his teeth, snorts at Lance’s string of texts. Now that he thinks about it, they’ve never really texted each other before, except in the group chat with their other friends.

 

**sending to Lance 22:08PM**

not everyone holds onto their phone 24/7 like you do, lance. he’s mentioned the pancake place to me, so he should be replying to your text soon.

 

**Lance 22:10PM**

he txted me just now <3 thx dude, ur such a bro :3 see u sunday!!!!!

 

**sending to Lance 22:12PM**

see you sunday, lance

 

Keith won’t admit it in front of Pidge, Lance, or even Shiro, but he is actually starting to look forward to Sunday. 

 

\-------------

  
  


“Tell me why I’m doing this again?”

“Because I’m your best friend, and you love me.” Shiro answers. “And I’ll owe you one.”

“You owe me hundreds after this, Shirogane.” Shiro just laughs at Keith’s grumpy remark.

It’s a bright and early Sunday morning. Keith doesn’t do outings in a bright and early Sunday morning.

It’s not that he’s against waking up early on a weekend; he’s made a habit of not sleeping in, even during weekends. It’s the ritual of getting ready to go out that he’s against of doing, so early in the morning. He likes his Sunday morning slow and easy. And here he is at 9am in the morning, ready to have some pancakes. It was Shiro’s idea to get to the shop by the time it opens, to avoid a long line, he said. It is a fair enough reason, but Keith is by no means mollified. 

(Lance texted him in panic because of the 9am meeting time, and begged Keith to give him a call to wake him up because apparently Hunk refused to wake up before 10am on a Sunday, and Lance doesn’t trust himself not to go back to sleep after his alarm rings. Keith’s protest of ‘ _ I’m not your fucking alarm’  _ went by unnoticed, and he grudgingly did become Lance’s alarm this morning.)

They’re standing just to the side of the shop’s entrance, waiting for Lance. According to his last text to Shiro, he’s already gotten off the train and is heading here from the station. As Lance will probably take a few minutes walk, Keith lets his eyes wanders to their surroundings. 

Right across the shop is a large park, which has started to fill up with families bringing young children, people walking their dogs, and couples on a date. The weather has started to turn cooler these days, and Keith notices some people has already brought out their light jackets and covering their necks with light scarves. The picturesque scene will become even more so when the Ginkgo tree lining the street, scattering their yellow leaves on the ground.

“Oh, there he comes.” Keith snaps out of his daze and his eyes follow the direction Shiro’s waving to. 

Lance is speed-walking down the street towards them, waving back to Shiro with a grin plastered on his slightly-flushed face. “Sorry to keep you waiting! Now, who’s pumped to grab eat some awesome pancakes!!” Pumping his fist on the air, Lance then points finger guns at them with a wink.

Shiro just chuckles at Lance’s usual antics, while Keith rolls his eyes but doesn’t stop the edge of his mouth from quirking up. “Morning, Lance. Let’s go in then, shall we?”

They enter the shop with the tinkling of a bell and are soon guided by the waitress to be seated by the window, looking out to the street. The shop is Hawaiian-themed, all the waiters and waitresses wearing aloha shirt, a ukelele sitting next to the register; but it still has that fashionable cafe feel that makes you relax and 

The waitress hands them the menu, asking them to call for her when they’re ready to order, and as Keith has predicted, Lance quickly locks onto the separate Halloween Special Menu.

“Wonder what I should get…” Shiro says, picking up the menu. “Oh, they have other breakfast food too.”

“I’m so getting the Halloween set!!” Lance exclaims excitedly, “Oh my god, that is the coolest!! Purple pancakes?? And that blood syringe??? Hunk would love this!!” 

Keith hides a small smile behind the menu he’s holding, his eyes darting across the list of dishes. “I think I’ll get the blueberry waffle.”

Lance lets out a scandalized gasp and gives Keith the stink eye. If he has to roll his eyes more than this, Keith thinks he won’t get out of this date with his eyes intact. “Keith!! For shame!! We’re here for pancakes, not some goddamn  _ waffles! _ ”

“Well, I prefer waffles to pancakes.” Keith challenges. “They’re crunchy.”

“You take that back, you fiend.” Lance hisses, clutching a hand to his heart. “How dare you come into this shop and say that! What if the pancakes hear you!?”

“They’re fucking pancakes, Lance.”

“Now, now, you two.” Shiro raises his hands and says with a placating voice. As if he’s just remembered Shiro’s there too, Lance colors and quiets instantly, though still narrowing his eyes at Keith. “I think we’re ready to order then. Excuse me!”

The waitress comes and take their orders, Shiro ordering a banana pancake for himself, and a pork, spinach and cheese omelette for them to share. It doesn’t take long for their meals to be served, as there are only a handful of customers besides them; a couple of gossiping girls and a family of three. The waitress explains the different types of sauces and wishing them a pleasant meal before turning around and leaves.

Shiro picks up the cutlery and starts cutting the omelette into three equal pieces, while Lance takes shots of his Halloween Set from different angles with his phone.

“Hunk will probably try to drag me back here to have these,” Lance says, pocketing his phone once more. He then reaches for the syringe with an excited ‘ _ ooohh’ _ before injecting the strawberry blood into his bright blue lemonade. Keith has to admit, it does give out a dramatic effect. “Sweet!”

They eat the omelette first, and it’s quite a meal to start the day to. The eggs are perfectly cooked, and the velvety texture of the cheese compliments the pork and spinach perfectly. 

Lance eats his portion of the omelette in a hurry, then switches out his plate for his pancake, quickly cutting a bite.

Keith shakes his head at Lance’s impatience, but also finishes his eggs soon after and moves on to his waffles. He takes a bite, smearing it with a good amount of whipped cream beforehand. Keith closes his eyes as the taste spreads into his mouth as he chews, savoring the crisp skin of the waffle and the softness in the middle. The whipped cream is fluffy and not too sweet, and it’s perfection.   

There’s a groan of delight from next to him, and when Keith opens his eyes again, Lance is swinging his fists up and down in glee. “Holy shit, this is good! I didn’t know what I was expecting from a purple pancake, but nnghh~~”

“Wow. These are almost better than Hunk’s pancakes…” Shiro says, his eyes widening as he takes another bite of his pancake, his other plate already set aside. He’s poured one of the sauces, the white one, on his pancakes.

“Don’t let Hunk hear you say that Shiro. He takes pride on those fluffy pancake of his, he’ll force pancakes down your throat until you admit his is better.” Lance laughs, and when he gets a chuckle from Shiro, he grins proudly.

“Yours looks interesting, Lance. What is it made of?” Shiro asks.

Humming in contemplation, Lance snatches the Halloween Menu from the empty table next to them and putting it down again after glancing through it. “Sweet potato is the gooey purple thing. Then raspberry sauce for the sea of blood. Nice.”

“Sounds good.”

“Do you wanna try some?” Lance offers, then swiftly cutting up a piece, stabs it with a fork and raises it towards Shiro.

The easy smile on Shiro’s face falters, as he stares at the offered bite, clearly not knowing what to do. He even throws Keith a ‘ _ what do i do’ _ glance that Keith pretends not to see, opting to continue eating his waffles instead.

“Um.”

Keith watches as realization dawns on Lance’s face and he jerks his proffered hand back quickly. “Oh! Sorry!! I didn’t mean to––I mean––It’s just a habit, my little sister always makes me feed her things so my hand just...yeah.” Lance squeaks at the end, his face bright red.

Keith fights against the sigh he can feel forming in his chest. It was going so well, to think that one awkward moment couldn’t even be avoided, in the end. Stupid Lance.

“Is that purple thing that good? Let me try.” Keith leans towards Lance, brandishing his fork and knife, stealing a small cut before Lance can protest.

“Hey!! Stop stealing my pancakes, you waffles-eater!”

The purple gooey thing is actually pretty good. Keith wonders if Hunk can replicate it if he brings the homecook here to try it.

“Not bad.” Keith comments, then drops the bomb that he knows will blow the awkwardness away. “Still not better than my waffles, though.”

“Still not better––Keith, you are one crazy man.” Lance hisses.

They proceed to bicker over whose dish is more delicious, and ropes Shiro into eating and comparing them, while pairing the small bites with different sauces. Shiro then makes them eat some of his pancakes in exchange, and in the end their plates become a mix of their three dishes.

After finishing them all up, Shiro calls the bill and they count how much they each have to pay. They’re all ready to head out, but before that, Keith needs to make a quick stop.

“You guys go ahead, I’m going to the toilet first.”

“Alright Keith, we’ll wait for you outside.” Shiro says as he stands up, followed by Lance.

Today’s date ends up quite well, if Keith must say. There was a slight hiccup in the middle, but they were all enjoying themselves in the end. And the pancakes were delicious. Maybe they should take a walk in the park after this, before heading home. 

Thinking absently as he washes his hands, Keith feels there might be hope that the rest of the dates won’t be such a nightmare. 

He exits the store, ready to give his suggestion on a walk in the park, only to find Shiro alone.

“Where’s Lance?” Keith asks, raising his eyebrows in question.

“He, uh, decided to head home first.” Shiro answers, scratching his cheek and looks away. 

“...Shiro? What did you do?”

Shiro heaves a sigh, rubbing the back of his neck and takes a moment before finally answering Keith’s question. “I talked to him about these...dates. I wasn’t completely sure when he first proposed it, but...but I guess he was actually pretty serious about it.”

Taking a pause, the line on Shiro’s face shifts, forming a frown. “So I turned him down properly, this time. Lance is a great guy and a great friend, but I just don’t see him romantically so I didn’t want to lead him on.”

“And what did he say to that?” 

“He said that’s okay and said not to worry, and he told me not to be weird about it and to stay friends. He really is a great guy.” Shiro sighs again. “Hope he won’t take it too badly.”

Keith doesn’t say anything about it again as they walk around the area, spending some time at the park before going home. 

Lying down on the bed, Keith stares at his phone screen, where a blank new message text is open. He then starts tying.

 

**sending to Lance 12:16PM**

hey lance? you there?

 

Even when the next morning comes, Keith doesn’t get a reply.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in the middle of the night and edited it in the wake of morning, I swear I found myself writing "Lance said to Lance" once and if you find stupid mistakes like that in this, please do tell ; ;
> 
> And god sorry for the text-heavy pancake part I'm stanning [this pancake](http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/09/26/japanese-cafe-chain-serves-up-purple-pancakes-for-halloween/) so hard I got a little carried away. And the store in this fic is modeled after the Yokohama Yamashita Kouen branch of the chain restaurant. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Intermission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaahh sorry it took this long ;;; And tbh I'm not all that happy with this chapter but I feel I just need to write things down and keep things going through until the end. Thank you for the kudos and comments and thank you for waiting!!

When Lance doesn’t show up in classes they’re supposed to take together and gives no response to any of Keith’s following texts for several days, Keith feels that enough is enough.

And that brings Keith here, in front of Lance’s and Hunk’s place. Keith raises his hand to ring the doorbell, and hesitates. What if Lance gets more upset and hurt by Keith forcing him to talk about what happened? _Screw it. I’m already here anyway._

_Ding dong._

When the door clicks open, Keith secretly lets out a breath of relief by the appearance of Hunk, the very upstanding model of good reason. If it was Lance opening the door, Keith is not sure that they won’t just have a screaming match by the door (like how some of their arguments usually go), probably ending with Lance closing the door on Keith’s face.

“Oh. Hey, Keith. What brings you here?”

“Is Lance in?” At the scrunch of Hunk’s face, Keith can guess that the answer is yes.

“That depends...what do you need him for?” Hunk says tentatively, squinting his eyes at Keith. “If it’s about that Shiro thing, maybe you shouldn’t come in.”

“It’s not–well it is about that ‘Shiro thing’. But I just need to see Lance for a bit.”

“Why?”

Well. Isn’t that a good question? To be honest, Keith himself is not 100% sure.

“Um. Can you just let me in, Hunk? Please?” Keith adds at the end, and though Hunk still eyes him suspiciously, the big man nods and moves over to let him in.

“So, how’s Lance?”

Hunk shrugs his shoulder and heaves out a sigh at Keith’s question, his lips tugging down into a frown. “Not so good. Been locking himself in his room and blaring out Adele from time to time. But nothing compared to the Great Lance Breakdown though, so I guess he’ll be alright.”

“Great Lance Breakdown?” As they pad into the apartment, Keith quietly follows as Hunk goes straight to the kitchen.

“You know, the thing that happened on the first semester of college.” Keith didn’t know Lance on the first semester of college. “First semester, first time away from family, first exams. The initial high of college life ebbs away and all is left is tears and despair. But we got through that, so we’ll get through this. Hold this.”

Keith accepts the plate of cookies Hunk hands to him, raising his eyebrows questioningly at it. “Why do I need to hold it?”

“It’s an offering. You’ll need it. And don’t make sudden noises or movements, or you’ll scare him away.” Hunk says ominously, and leads them to the door of Lance’s room. “Okay, so when we go in, you stay right behind me. Offer one cookie at a time, and only give another when he’s finished with the one he’s holding. Take care not to let him steal the whole plate, or he’ll kick us out of the room and not open the doors again until he’s done with them.”

It’s like Keith is going to enter the territory of a highly delicate, endangered species, guided by its caretaker. And for Hunk to have these clear instructions on ‘Guidelines To Approach A Sulking Lance’, just how often does this happen?

“Lance? Buddy?” When there’s no response after a minute, Hunk starts knocking and waits again. And still there’s no answer.

At first Keith thought that he had come in vain, that Lance would just ignore them until they go away, but then he could faintly hear the soft pads of footsteps approaching the door. The door then clicks open to reveal Lance–well some parts of Lance Keith gets to see while standing behind Hunk–who has wrapped himself with a blanket.

“...’sup Hunk?” Lance says groggily, followed by a sniffle.

“Hey pal. Can we come in?”

“Sure, I guess… Wait, who do you mean by ‘we’?” When he peeks behind Hunk and find Keith there, Lance’s face contorted, looking as if he had just sucked on a lemon. “What are _you_ doing here!?”

“Why can’t I be here?” Keith retorts defensively, returning Lance’s glare.

“Are you here to mock me? Is that it? ‘Oh ha ha, silly Lance, thinking he has a chance with Shiro’. Well, you know what? You can fuck off!!” There it is, there’s the Lance that always makes Keith grit his teeth and makes his blood boil. He’s ready to shout back, but then he feels an elbow digging into his sides.

“Keith! Cookies! Show him the cookies!” Hunk whispers rather loudly, snapping Keith out of his anger and he quickly moves the plate into Lance’s line of vision. Suddenly turning quiet, Lance’s glare turns into wary interest focused on the pile of sugary treat. “See, Lance? Keith brought you cookies. Can you let us in now?”

“Cookies…” Eyes still dazedly transfixed on the plate, Lance steps aside to let them in.

“Quick Keith, give him one.” Hunk whispers again.

Picking up one piece as Hunk instructed, Keith gingerly offers it to Lance, who snatches it up quickly and bites down on it in what seemed like a millisecond. “Mmmmhh. Double choco chips.”

Both Keith and Hunk scurries in while Lance’s distracted, and for a moment Keith takes in his surrounding. He’s in Lance’s room. He doesn’t think he’s ever been in here before? Whenever the group meet up, they mostly spend time in the living room, and he never particularly cared whatsoever about the private rooms.

Lance’s room is not as Keith imagined it would be.

With Lance’s...loud personality, Keith had imagined a room that would be more in-your-face with all its...Lance-ness. But it’s surprisingly only moderately decorated, only a few posters of bands that Keith doesn’t recognise, and mostly photos of Lance with people Keith assumes are members of his family.

“Just sit wherever…” Lance says almost incoherently in between his chews, gesturing his words with a wave of the cookie.

Hunk takes the invitation by sitting on Lance’s bed, while Keith hesitates for a moment before going for the chair by the desk. Lance plops down on the beanbag, looking like a blanket burrito, and continues munching on the cookie, turning to face Hunk. “So? Why is Keith here?”

“I’m right here, you know.” Keith interjects with a scowl. “You’ve been absent from class for a few days, so I’m checking up on you.”

“Are you now?” The tone of Lance’s voice indicates that he clearly doesn’t believe that. “You’ve never checked up on me before.”

“Well–” If he answers it’s because they’re friends now, it’s like Keith is saying that they were never been friends before. They were. Just friends who aren’t on good terms. Who are now _supposed_ to be on better terms. Keith is trying, okay? “I just feel like it. What, are you saying that I can’t?”

“You can’t if you’re only here to prod me about what happened with Shiro.”

Keith meets Lance’s glare with his own. There’s no point if Keith’s the only one to play nice, so fuck it.

“What is your problem, Lance?! What do you have against me that makes you this spiteful?!”

“It’s because you’re _Keith_ , duh!”

“That is not a valid reason!!”

“Why? Because ya think so? Well, for me it is!!”

“Now now, calm down you guys…” Keith faintly registers Hunk’s effort to placate them but he was too busy with his bickering with Lance to acknowledge it. Their voices get higher and higher as they go back and forth and finally Hunk snaps. “ALRIGHT! That’s it!! Break it up you guys!! Keith, give Lance a cookie, and then also get one for yourself.”

Taken aback by Hunk’s sudden outburst, the two quiets down. Grudgingly following Hunk’s orders, Keith chucks a cookie at Lance, who catches it with his tongue sticking out, the immature bastard, and takes one for himself.

It’s one hell of a cookie.

“Okay, now.” While Keith and Lance are busy munching and throwing glares at each other, Hunk takes the opportunity to talk. “Since talking doesn’t seem to work for you guys, why don’t we watch something so we all can chill. And no Lance, we are not going to watch How To Train Your Dragon, as much as I love Toothless, I’ll be picking the movie.”

“But my bed won’t fit all of us if we’re watching from my laptop. And I don’t wanna move.” Lance whines with a pout.

“So we’ll all sit on the floor by you, okay?” Hunk says, moving to take Lance’s laptop from the bedside, opening it and placing it so that the monitor faces Lance. “I’ll go get the beddings from my room, Keith do you mind getting us some drinks from the fridge?”

“Sure.”

Hunk comes back with a pile of quilts and pillows and a few plushies. Hunk, being a god of crane games, have a mountain of plushies that he keeps around for his friends to hold whenever they have movie nights. Keith will fight whoever says Hunk is not the best.

“Here, you prefer Coke over Sprite, right?” Keith hands a can to Lance, keeping his voice level to avoid any accidental provocation.

“What if I’m in the mood for Sprite, Mr. Know-It-All?” But of course Keith’s effort is wasted on Lance, why does he even bother sometimes.

“Lance, play nice.” At Hunk’s warning, Lance pouts and takes the Cokes with a grumbled thanks.

Hunk sets up the quilts to the left and right of Lance’s bean bag, and scatter the pillows over them. The lion plushie is handed over to Lance by default (Lance has declared that he has adopted Blue The Lion and nobody can get custody over her), Keith gets his usual Shibainu plushie (Keith doesn’t say it out loud like Lance does, but he has custody over it), and Hunk keeps the Hamster plushie for himself.

“So what are we watching?” Lance asks, clutching Blue to his chest and propping his chin on it.

“The Lion King.” Hunk answers while fiddling with Lance’s laptop. When he’s got the movie starting, he moves to sit on his spot.

“Sweet.” Lance says, his hand moving to take another cookie.

Although it’s just the three of them, it feels just like the usual movie night, with Lance and Hunk making commentaries here and there, and breaking out into musical numbers along with the movies. Their Hakuna Matata was so on point, Keith ended up clapping enthusiastically. The only thing they’re missing is Pidge’s cutting commentaries (“Listen to your goddamn father, Ariel, goddammit!”), and Shiro’s and Allura’s laughter that usually trails after their antics.

It’s going on swimmingly.

...until they get to the credits and Lance starts talking about The Lion King 2.

“What do you mean you’ve never watched Lion King 2 and have no intention of watching it!?!?”

“Aren’t the sequels usually stupid anyways?”

“You– How could you–!! Apologize to Kovu!!”

“Ko-who??”

“That’s it! The next time we’re having movie night, we’re watching The Lion King 2!! And the next we’ll watch Little Mermaid 2! And then Cinderella 2 _and_ 3!!!”

“Yeah? Then I’m going to invoke my right to veto!”

“Ha! You’ve used that a long time ago!!”

“Well then I’ll use Shiro’s right to veto!”

At the mention of Shiro’s name, Lance’s face grows taut and there he goes hugging his plushie and burying his face in it. Great. Good job, Keith. To be fair, it wasn’t on purpose.

“Look, maybe we shouldn’t avoid talking about it…” Keith casts his eyes around for Hunk to beg for help but their usual buffer is nowhere to be seen. Right. Upset stomach. Toilet. Keith’s going to have to face this alone.

“There’s nothing to talk about, okay?” Lance heaves a sigh and glances up to face Keith. “I asked Shiro out. He rejected me. End of story. I know that I’m not good enough for him anyways.”

“Hey, don’t say that.” When his remark gets a scoff, Keith scowls.

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? Everyone’s thinking it, ‘oh poor Lance, boy got a hopeless crush that won’t ever be returned’, well can’t really help it, can I.” Lance sniffs. “I’ve always been jealous of you, you know. Getting top grades in class, having such a close relationship with Shiro... and then there’s me who probably have to do backflips and tricks to even get him to look at me.”

Is that why Lance has been such a pain in Keith’s ass? Because he was jealous?

“Shiro’s being stupid, not giving you a chance. You’re...okay.”

“Just okay?? I’m _great._ ”

“You’re impossible.”

“If by impossible you mean impossibly cute, then ding ding ding, you are correct!” Keith rolls his eyes when Lance waggles his eyebrows, but the edge of his lips quirk slightly into a smile.

At least he’s back to his annoyingly obnoxious self again. The Lion King sure did the trick. “But to be fair, Shiro did give me a chance, with the dates thing. Pity I only got two… Am I really that undateable...”

That’s right, Shiro said something about promising Lance _five_ dates. And by his decision to ‘not string Lance along’, Shiro’s not keeping to his words.  Which is...not acceptable. Especially when it makes Lance pout in disappointment like that.

“How about...how about I take you to the rest of the dates. To make it up to you.”

“You what?”

“You’ve had two dates with Shiro, right? So I’ll take you to three more.”

“Huh?”

“Alright, it’s decided. I’ll text you the details later.” Keith stands up and makes a beeline for the door, waving his hand over his shoulders as he goes. “Tell Hunk I said bye.”

“Wait, Keith?! What just–what just happened?? Hey–” Lance’s voice cuts off as Keith closes the door behind him and makes his way out of the apartment.

What just happened, indeed.

 

*****

 

“Pidge, I need your help.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re going on a date with Shiro and Lance again.” Pidge says, not even taking her eyes away from the monitor.

“No.”

“Finally! The boy sees reason!”

“I’m going on a date with just Lance.”

“You _what_!?” This time, Pidge’s head swivels to Keith’s direction, her eyes wide and mouth agape in disbelief. “Have you finally seen the light and stopped being a dense donkey?”

“A dense don–what the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh. Never mind. Carry on. You were saying something about going on a date?” Pidge fixes the position of her glasses and goes back to her laptop.

Keith decides it’s best to ignore whatever it is Pidge is trying to say. “Yeah. Shiro promised Lance five dates, and we went on two, and Shiro probably won’t be going on the rest three. So I’m going in his place.”

“Uh huh. Great idea. Yup.” Not that Pidge means what she said, from her tone.

“What? Do you think I shouldn’t do this?”

“No, I’m not saying that, and actually, I won’t be saying anything more about it. Just don’t come crying to me when everything blows over, okay?”

“Pidge, what are you even saying? You’re not making any sense.” Keith crosses his hands, his eyebrows furrowing in exasperation. There Pidge goes again, trying to tell him something without telling him exactly what it is.  

“Nothing. I just said I won’t say anything, didn’t I? So, three dates, huh? You already have something in mind?”

“No. That’s why I need your help.”

“You’re hopeless. You’re all hopeless.”


	4. Under The Sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who knew work becomes extremely hectic at the end and start of the year. Merry Christmas everyone! Happy New Year! Happy Chinese New Year!!

“Hey Lance.”

“Uh, hey.”

Lance looks more confused than nervous with this whole situation, good for him, because Keith feels like a nervous-wreck who’s going on 90% coffee and 10% panic. 

What was he thinking? Keith’s never taken anyone out on a date, how did he confidently say he’s taking Lance on  _ three of those _ . There is no way today is going to end well. What if Keith’s shoelaces go loose and he trips on them and pulls Lance down with him? What if–

“Should we go in?” Keith snaps out of his mini freak-out at Lance’s voice, and nods. “I think the ticket locket’s right next to the entrance.”

Because they’ve done movies and pancakes with Shiro, Pidge said that their next safest place to go to is the aquarium. She said that Lance mentioned once that he’s loved the aquarium since he was a kid. So for the third date, Keith and Lance are going to the aquarium. 

“It’s fine, I’ve bought the tickets. We can just go straight in.” Tip No. 1 on the _ “Guide To The Perfect Date!”   _ article Pidge found somewhere in the internet is  _ being prepared.  _ At the very least Keith’s got that one covered.   __

“Oh. You shouldn’t have.” Lance gingerly takes the ticket offered to him. “Thanks, man.”

“You’re welcome.” Keith replies stiffly, his nerves still refusing to settle.

They start walking towards the gates in uncomfortable silence, when Keith remembers Tip No. 2.  _ Initiate conversations to avoid awkwardness!  _ He goes through a list of topics he could bring up in his head, trying to find one that is casual, but also engaging enough to last for a while. The weather is obviously out, as well as updates on their mutual acquaintances (mentioning Shiro is a big no no, according to Pidge). Keith loathes small talks. 

Thankfully, Lance breaks the silence first.

“Oh god, you’re being weird about this. Stop being weird about this.” Lance groans.

“Being weird about what? And how am I being weird?” Keith asks defensively.

“About  _ this _ ! You’re acting like this is...like this is a real date! All nervous and stuff!”  _ Because it  _ is  _ a real date.  _ Keith wants to snap back, his mouth starting to form a frown, but Lance starts again. “You’re doing this because of some honor shit or whatever, I get it. But you need to chillax, we’ll just hang out like normal friends do. So stop acting weird.”

“We’ve never hung out, just the two of us. Like ‘normal friends’ do.” Keith comments. And that is true. Keith and Shiro do things together all the time, and he accompanies Pidge on her hunt for retro games every once in awhile. He’s at least went to an all-you-can-eat place with Hunk, and to a flea market with Allura. But never once with just Lance.

“Really? Never?” Lance tilts his head in contemplation. “Huh. I guess not. Well, there’s a first to everything, am I right? I see the entrance, come on let’s go!”

As they go through the gates, the Aquarium staff hands them pamphlets and sends them in with a cheerful ‘have fun!’. Lance immediately flaps open the map, but Keith has also come prepared for this part. He’s checked the schedule beforehand, and Pidge helped him assemble the perfect route so that they can see all of the program today. 

“Alright, so first we should go see the–”

“Let’s go see the penguins!!” Lance says excitedly, and when he suddenly takes off, and Keith has no choice but to take brisk steps to keep up.

“No, we should go see the sea lions first. It’s almost their feeding time. After that, there’s the feeding time for sea otters,  _ then _ we can come back to see the penguins.”

“But that’s not the fun way to enjoy the aquarium!”

“But if we don’t do it that way, we won’t get to see all the shows!!”

“ _ Ugh. Keith. _ Don’t tell me you’re one of those people.” Lance slows his pace to throw Keith a look. “Where’s the fun in worrying about sticking to a schedule? You should just, you know, go with the flow!”

“But–!!”

“We’ll see the shows when we see them. Besides, we can see the shows we miss when we come here again next time.”

Keith was about to start again, but at the mention of a next time, the protest dies in his mouth. Tip No. 3 from the date article,  _ Try not to be nervous and just have fun!,  _ comes to mind, so maybe he can compromise. The tension on his shoulders disappear, and that nagging ball of nervousness in his chest that has been keeping him on edge seems to have unfurled, and so he nods. “...alright.”

They see the penguins. 

(“Aww!! Look at them walking, how cute!!” Lance coos, waving his hands at the baby penguins waddling around. 

“Look at them  _ swim. _ ” Keith says in amazement, watching one particular penguin showing its prowess in the water, zooming past them several times.)

They see the large aquarium, with its school of sardines, manta rays, and the majestic whale shark.

(“It’s  _ humongous. _ ” Lance tries to take a selfie as the whale shark swim past, and let out a small cry of disappointment when it only results in a blurry image.

“They look delicious...” Keith comments when the sardines swims near them.

“GASP!! KEITH!! How could you!?”)

They go to the touch pool.

(“Eeeww, they’re so icky to touch.” Lance whines, though his hand is still dipped to stroke the little sharks gently.

“You should try touching one of these.” Keith says, holding a sea cucumber loosely in one hand and a starfish in another.)

They see the sunfish.

(“Oh. My.  _ God _ . It’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. I love it.” Lance squats down to get the best angle for a selfie.

“You’re not making sense.” Keith says, scrutinizing said sunfish. How could something be so ugly.

When Lance gestures for him to join in the selfie, Keith complies.

“I’ll send the picture to you later!” Lance grins, and Keith can’t help but give a small smile back.

He wonders if he’s ever taken a selfie with Lance before.)

They see the otters, the crabs, the jellyfishes, and many other fishes that Keith can’t name. They watch the capybara being fed, and listen to the guide explaining about the fish life in coral reef. 

It comes as a surprise, them actually being able to get along, seeing how they’ve only become civil pretty recently. Keith actually half-expected them to fall into another argument, and that Lance will leave in the middle of the date in a huff. Keith’s glad he didn’t. 

“How old do you think those turtles are? They look ancient.” Lance bends down next to him to stare at the turtle at a closer distance.

“I don’t know, decades?” 

“Wow, they’re older than us. They’re probably as old as our ages combined. Then doubled. They’re grandpa turtles.”

And surprisingly, they’re having a good time. Nothing that Keith had feared would happen happened. No sudden robberies in the middle of the aquarium, no giant crabs going loose. It’s relaxing, peaceful even. And the aquarium isn’t as tedious as Keith has imagined the place to be, there is quite a lot of things to see and do.

Lance looks like he’s genuinely enjoying himself, making faces at the turtles and laughing. And Keith finds that he’s enjoying himself too.

“Is there any other we haven’t seen yet?” Lance asks as he stands back up.

“No, I think we’ve covered everything.” Keith answers, opening the map again just to double-check. He flinches slightly in surprise when Lance leans over his shoulder to take a look. 

“Then let’s go to the gift shop before we leave! I want to buy some souvenirs for the gang! We’re...here,” Lance pinpoint their location on the map on his finger and trace the way to the gift shop. “So we should go...that way?”

“Sounds about right. Let’s go.”

The gift shop sells a range of things from aquatic creatures plushies to sandals, puzzles, and even stationery. The whale shark merchandises is visibly dominating the shop, being the most popular exhibit in the aquarium.

“Imma take a look around!!” Lance says, before running off further inside the shop.

Lance is already nowhere to be seen, so Keith walks around to examine the choice of goods more closely. He’s not a big believer of getting a souvenir whenever he visits a place, but he thinks the occasion calls for something, a tangible thing, to remember the day by. Maybe he should get one for Lance too. 

But what should he get… There are too many options to choose from, he doesn’t even know where to start. Keith doesn’t know Lance’s preference so he’ll go with his. So, something nice and practical and useful. There are the keychains, and also the mugs, or the strap. Everything decorated with cute round seals or whale sharks or penguin or some other cutely designed animal.  

While Keith is deeply in thought, comparing the pros and cons of each item he’s considering of buying, someone tapped him on his back and though he won’t admit it, he jumps a little.

“There you are! I think I’m done here. Are you buying anything?” Lance peers over Keith’s shoulder to take a look at what he’s holding. 

“Yeah. Which do you think is better? The whale shark one, or the penguin one?” Keith shows him the two mugs. 

“Oooh, that’s a hard one.” Lance squints, looking back and forth between the two. “Hmm, but I guess the penguin one is cuter.”

“Okay.” Keith replies, taking both mugs to the cashier.

“What the–if you’re taking both anyways, why did you ask me that?” Lance asks, taking steps to trail after Keith. 

Keith doesn’t answer him until he’s done paying for the items, then he takes the penguin mug out of the shopping bag and hands it to Lance. “This one’s for you.”

At first Lance just gapes at him, but when Keith raises an eyebrow as if asking ‘so are you taking this or not?’, Lance fumbles to accept it. “First the tickets, and now this? What’s gotten into you today, man?” But Lance is grinning as he says it, so Keith will take it as a good thing. “Thanks! And, oh,” Lance puts the mug inside his own bag and takes something out. “This one’s for you!”

Before Keith can take a good look at whatever it is Lance bought for him, Lance has already put it on Keith’s head.

“...what the hell is this?”

“It’s a whale shark headband! Isn’t it cute? I got a matching one, look!” As he says that, Lance takes another one of the headbands and put it on himself. It’s like a normal headband, but it makes it look like there’s a tiny whale shark on Lance’s head. And Keith supposes there’s also one on his. 

It’s unpractical and not at all useful, and Keith guesses they won’t be wearing it again. The least he could do to do it justice is to wear it until they ride the bus home. “This is stupid. ...but thanks.”

“No problem!”

They finally exit the aquarium and both head for the bus stop, waiting for their respective buses to take them home. There aren’t that many people aside from them, a young family of three and an elderly couple who are sitting on the bench. They check the bus schedule, and Keith’s bus are apparently supposed to arrive earlier than Lance’s.

But then Keith remembers Date Tip No. 4.

_ Remember, always offer to send them home when the date comes to an end! _

“Should I...send you home?” His voice sounds extremely unsure even to his own ears.  

“Seriously, what’s wrong with you today? You’re creeping me out.” Keith can’t tell if Lance is joking or mocking him, but knowing Lance, it’s probably both. “Nah, it’s fine. I’m gonna head to the groceries before going home anyway.”

“Alright then.” Keith nods in acknowledgement, and he crosses Tip No. 4 out in his head.

Then it leaves Tip No. 5.

_ And when you’ve reached your third date, you should leave with a kiss!! _

Technically.  _ Technically _ , they are already on their third date. 

But Keith’s not sure Lance is going to appreciate getting a kiss from him. He’s run the scenario through his head a few times, and every time it ends with Lance either punching or slapping him. Lance did say not to treat today as a date and more like them hanging out, but it  _ technically _ is still a date. And even  _ if  _ he’s going to...to kiss Lance, where should he do it? The lips are out of question, so maybe on the forehead? The cheek?

Time is ticking by, and Keith’s only half-listening to Lance’s rambling about basically the recap of their day, offering occasional hums to show his interest. He’s got a more dire thing that needs attending to.

To kiss or not to kiss? Kiss. Not kiss. Kiss?

“Hey, I think that’s your bus coming.” Lance says, pulling Keith out of his thoughts. 

He looks at the nearing bus, then to Lance. Then to the bus. Then to Lance again.

The bus comes to a halt and opens its doors. 

Keith rests his hands on Lance’s shoulders as he leans to brush his lips against Lance’s cheek. When he pulls away, he can feel the heat spreading across his face and to his ears. Lance is gaping at him, but he doesn’t have the time to worry about Lance’s reaction. He has a bus to catch.

“I’ll see you in class then. Or when the gang meets up. Or whenever. I’ll text you?”  And with that he flees the scene, the doors closing behind him as he steps into the bus.

When he dares to look out the window to take a peek at the bus stop, the bus has driven too far away to make out the expression on Lance’s face. He can only imagine the possibilities.

Keith’s so wrapped up in his running thoughts that he wears the whale shark headband all the way home. 


	5. When You Wish Upon A Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really fun to write. Next chapter should be the last one, unless I have a sudden need to write an extra chapter!
> 
> Thanks for the lovely comments! You all kept me going.

“–I have those places in mind, so where do you think I should go for the next date? OH MY GOD, PIDGE STOP LAUGHING!!”

“I–” Pidge wheezes before taking another breath, just to squeeze out another round of laughing. “I can’t!!”

Gnashing his teeth in part exasperation part embarrassment, Keith waits until Pidge’s breathless laughter finally dies down. He really doesn’t get what’s so funny about what he said. “Satisfied?”

“Completely.” Wiping tears out of the corners of her eyes, Pidge takes another deep breath and finally turns to face Keith. “So I gathered the we have quite the situation over here.”

“If by a situation you mean my so-called friend is laughing her ass off instead off giving me advice, then yes we do have one.” Keith intended to frown, but ends up pouting instead. Damn it.

Pidge snickers one last time at Keith’s obvious petulance, before finally making a show of clearing her throat. “Okay, okay, let’s do a recap. So you went on the date. To the aquarium. You followed the advice written on a  _ magazine obviously targeted for tweens _ .” There’s a laugh being covered by a cough, but Keith decides to let it go. “And then you kissed Lance.”

“On the cheek.”

“Alright, you kissed Lance _on the_ _cheek_.”

“Yes, and now I’m asking you advice for the next date.”

“No, hold up, let’s not go over this too quickly.” Pidge holds up her hand as if signalling Keith to stop. “Let’s go back to the aquarium date. You gave Lance a kiss. Have you asked yourself why you did it?”

“Uh. Well, that’s because…”

“If you answer ‘because the magazine said so’, don’t think I won’t hit you over the head.” Keith glares at the accusing finger Pidge points at him. “You don’t take to anyone telling you what to do, least of all a stupid magazine Matt bought in his misguided youth. Except perhaps Shiro. At least you listen to Shiro.”

Keith furrows his eyebrows but doesn’t comment. It’s...not untrue information.

“So? Can I expect an answer sometime within this year?” Pidge’s tone is part amusement part exasperation, the cheek.

“Because...because I just felt like it...?”

“Oh god, I didn’t sign up for this.” Pidge rolls her eyes and whips out her phone, her thumbs scrolling away on the screen, tapping occasionally here and there. “Alright. So I have a few more questions for you to answer.”

Keith doesn’t even try to hide his groan in response. “Pidge, enough with the twenty questions! Can I just get a recommendation and go?”

“Nope.” Comes the high-pitched fake-gleeful reply. Sometimes Keith thinks he needs better friends. “Okay, so here’s the first one. When you’re doing nothing, do you often think about Lance? Yes? No? Maybe?”

Ever since this whole date thing, Keith thinks that it’s a little inevitable. He’s been thinking strategies and doing simulations to not fuck up. “I guess that’s one a yes?”

“Hm. Do you enjoy the time you spend alone together? Do you wish there were more?”

Keith thinks about how they had an enjoyable time at the aquarium, and how he’s neglected spending time with Lance compared to their other friends. The answer comes easily. “Yes, and yes.”

“Do you feel happy when Lance is happy?”

Keith thinks about how excited and elated Lance was when they went to their dates with Shiro, and how much he had smiled. And how his eyes had sparkled at the sight of the various aquatic creatures in the aquarium. “Yeah.”

“Would you give up something you liked if that means making Lance happy?” Pausing to bite her lower lip in thought for a moment, Pidge goes on. “For example, during a movie night, would you share your popcorn with him?”

For the record, Keith does not, he repeats, he  _ does not  _ share his popcorn. Ever. But. But if he imagines an unhappy, sad Lance...maybe...maybe he can share a little bit. Not all, but perhaps some.

“I think so?”

“Oh wow, congratulations!” Shoving her phone at him, the screen facing Keith, Pidge exclaims in an exaggerated cheerful tone. “You have a big fucking crush on Lance!!”

The phone has the notes app open, with only a line of text that reads ‘YOU HAVE A FUCKING CRUSH GET OVER IT’ on it.

“...what?”

“I can’t believe you’re not faking the obliviousness all this time. To think you’ve been having a case of denial the size of a giant hippopotamus. I should be paid for all this, like counselling money.” Pidge pulls back her hand, and shakes her head at Keith. Obliviousness? Denial? What? “I’ll give your brain a moment to process.”

“I don’t have a crush on Lance.” Keith throws a glare at Pidge, though mostly out of confusion.

“There. Denial, right there.”

“But I don’t!! I’ve only come to think of him as a friend recently!”

“You do know that people can have a crush on people who are not your friends? Even strangers?”

To be honest, Keith’s always deemed romantic relationships not worth his time, so he’s never particularly put a lot of thought into it. There were so many other things he’s poured himself into, romance just slipped into the bottom of his priority. He’s probably been attracted to a few people in the past. Probably. He’s not sure himself.

“Yeah? Doesn’t mean I have a crush on Lance. ...do I?”

“Keith. You took him out on dates. You did the research for his date, even the one with Shiro. You kissed him. Even on the cheek, it still counts as a kiss.” Pidge starts listing, holding up his fingers to keep count. “Even before all this, you’ve been agonizing on about how Lance flirts with everyone but you.”

“I’ve never said that!!” Keith furiously refutes, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “I only said that Lance shouldn’t be flirting with people who are obviously not interested–!”

“And he should be flirting with people who is, which is you? You know what, I think we’re done here, pal.” Pidge abruptly stands and begins pulling Keith onto his feet and pushing him towards the door. “Get out and sleep on it.”

“Hey, you can’t just throw me–” Pidge closes the door on his face. “–out.”

“I so can! Bye, Keith!”

 

* * *

 

As he walks home, Keith replays Pidge’s words and tries to recall the events she had mentioned, trying to see the connection that somehow leads to Pidge’s conclusion. But having no previous experience to compare it to, Keith still draws to a blank. 

Is this how having feelings for a person feels like? It’s nothing like he had imagined it to be. Can you even fall for a person without even realizing it yourself? Without even knowing when it started?

Keith has so many questions with no one to answer them.

The only person who comes to mind is Shiro, who to his knowledge has had several girlfriends and boyfriends, but…

A vibration from inside of his pocket cuts Keith’s thoughts. He reaches for his phone, the display notifying him that there’s a message from Pidge. He swipes the screen to open it.

 

**Pidge 14:14PM**

according to hunk, lance is into space and shit. try the planetarium. you’re welcome.

 

Space and shit. Of course.

Now that Pidge mentioned it, Keith remembers that aside from an unhealthy attachment to the movie How To Train Your Dragon, Lance is also quite fond of movies that involves a lot of aliens and starts with the word ‘star’. Star Wars. Star Trek. He should enjoy going to the planetarium, where he can be surrounded in stars.

Keith can already imagine how Lance will go off with child-like enthusiasm, his eyes sparkling in wonder, sporting a toothy grin that’ll make Keith wants to grin along. Before he even realized it, Keith’s lips are already tugged into a smile, with his chest feeling a little full and warm, and thinking that he’ll make Lance laugh instead of scowl makes him  _ feel _ –

Oh. Oohh.  

Keith gets it now.

 

* * *

 

**sending to Lance 19:54PM**

we’ll be going to the planetarium next. meet you there around noon-ish?

 

**Lance 19:56PM**

ooohh!!!! planetarium!!!!! ive nvr been, so excite!!!!

 

**sending to Lance 19:57PM**

alright then, see you there.

**Lance 19:58PM**

k!

 

**Lance 19:58PM**

…………….hey keith

 

**sending to Lance 20:00PM**

?

 

**Lance 20:13PM**

um nvm, forgot wat i wanted to ask. nite! see u!

 

**sending to Lance 20:14PM**

?? what the hell lance

 

**sending to Lance 20:14PM**

good night.

 

(Keith lies awake at night worrying if Lance acted weird because  _ he _ acted weird, but he’s completely sure he sounded just like usual and like no particular revelation made itself known, but he can’t be one hundred percent sure, does he usually say good night to Lance? Was it not something he did? But he was just replying to Lance, so it shouldn’t be a weird thing–how do people deal with this!?)

 

* * *

 

If Keith was nervous for the last date, he is outright flipping out right now.

He takes a deep breath, then another. Coming early was a good choice, gives him spare time to settle down his nerves.

It’s one thing to be flustered over not knowing what to do on a date, and another dimension altogether to know that you have feelings for the person you’re going on a date with. In desperation, he’s tried reading articles the night before for any help he can get. Most of them basically told him the two most important things: be chill and be charming.

Keith is a thousand miles away from charming.

“Oh hey, you’re here early.” 

Keith’s heart nearly jumps out of his throat.

“Hey Lance.” Keith can only pray that doesn’t come out strangled, the thump-thump-thumping of his heartbeat drowning out the sound of his own voice. This doesn’t make a very good start.

He half-expected and half-hoped Lance will break the tension, like he did last time, but a quick look towards him makes Keith dismiss the thought. Lance’s greets him with a stilted smile, a nervous energy around him, and his gaze not quite meeting Keith’s.

Just as Keith considers the possible causes of the sudden change, the answer hits him like a bolt of lightning.

The last time they went on a date, Keith had kissed Lance.

_ He kissed Lance. _

Blood rushes to his face, and Keith ducks to hide his quickly reddening cheeks.

Right. There was that. Now that he thinks about it, Lance had sit far away than he usually does during their class together, and looking back, it must’ve been on purpose.

Realizing his own feelings has made his past action a hundred times more mortifying.

_ Come on, be chill. Act natural. Don’t make this even more difficult! _

“Tickets! Let’s go get the tickets! Where can we get the tickets?” The words that slips out from his mouth can’t be any further than natural that Keith groans internally.

“Ha! Beat you to it! Already got them!” The stiffness of Lance’s posture melts away as he proudly brandishes two sheets of paper where their tickets are printed. He finally meets Keith’s eyes, and though there’s still a hint of being unsure, Lance shrugs his shoulder as if to shake it away. “You got them for us last time, so I thought it’s just fair for me to do it this time.”

“Oh. Thanks, that’s thoughtful of you.” Keith finally managed a smile, his nervousness chased away by Lance’s answering grin.

“Yeah, but you so owe me lunch for it!” Lance’s grin morphs into a smirk, and if that’s not enough to bring Keith’s heart to a stop, the hand circling his wrist to tug him to get moving certainly is. The warmth of Lance’s hand makes Keith warm all over, and their relatively close proximity doesn’t help one bit abating it. “Come on, we still have time before the show. Let’s check out the exhibition!”

Fuck it. Fuck being chill, Keith won’t last the day. And he may not do charming, but at least he can try to make today fun-and-not-at-all-awkward for Lance.

It doesn’t help that his mind keeps going back to last week, and how his lips had grazed Lance’s sun-kissed skin, the surprisingly soft texture of the other’s cheek, and wondering when he can do that again–

By the time Keith snaps out of it, Lance has lead them into the building and started talking, so Keith scrambles to focus back onto the words directed at him.

“–so yeah, I’ve made plans with Hunk to come here sooo many times, I can’t even remember why we keep putting it off! Have you been before?”

Thank god he’s started paying attention. “No, never been to any planetariums before.”

“Me neither, actually. There isn’t any planetarium, back in my hometown. I bet it’s gonna be awesome!”

They take a stroll around the edges of the wall, looking at the colourful display of photographs and reading through some of the facts plastered on everywhere around them. There are collections of rocks and sophisticated set-ups so scientific that Keith has no idea what it is supposed to emulate. When they walk past the interactive screens crowded by young children, they move along, knowing they won’t get a turn unless they wait a long, long time.

As they walk and talk, Keith learns more things about Lance. Things like his favourite planet.

(“It’s Neptune! What’s yours, Keith?”

“I’ve never really thought about it. Maybe Mars?”

“God of War, huh. Somehow it suits you.”)

Or his childhood dream.

(“Of course it’s typical and predictable, and like, the dream of every other thousands of kids, but I wanted to be an astronaut, you know? To boldly go where noman has gone before, like Jim Kirk!”

“That one’s from Star Trek, right?”

“Points for you, mullet man!”

And despite the use of that appalling nickname, Keith puffs his chest ever so slightly at getting it right.)

Or how he still keeps a part of his childhood close to him.

(“Oh my god Keith, look at that!” Keith turns at the tug on his jacket sleeves, to find the thing that makes Lance so giddy is a huge slide with the top enclosed as if there’s a planet sitting on top of it.

The two’s eyes meet and even without asking, Keith knows from the way Lance’s grin widens what the other teen intends to do.

“Will it even fit an adult?”

“Only one way to find out!”

One would say it’s childish, and Keith wouldn’t disagree that it’s a little bit embarrassing, but he doesn’t say no when Lance assures him that the slide is perfectly fit for an adult and invites him up. And perhaps it’s his bias talking when he finds this part of Lance cute.)

When it’s time for the program to start, Keith and Lance joins the crowd filing into a single long line, trickling their way slowly into the dome. The seats are spread evenly across the room, rows after rows forming an enormous circle. As there is no assigned seats, so Keith follows Lance’s lead to sit near the middle, reclining his seat to face the dome ceiling after Lance does the same.

“I’m so pumped! I wonder which program they’re showing today? Can’t believe I forgot to check.” From the corner of his eyes, Keith catches Lance turning his head to his direction, so he moves to mirror him. “Do you know, oh the all-prepared-and-organized one?”

Keith raises his eyebrows at Lance’s teasing tone, but decided not to make a comeback. He does, after all, know what program they’re about to see. After getting the OK from Lance, Keith checked the entirety of the planetarium website, just in case. “It should be the northern hemisphere constellations, going through all four seasons.”

“Cool!” At that moment, the light dims and a soothing voice starts to speak over the speakers. They both tilt their heads back to face the ceiling.

_ “Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. I would like to give you all a warm welcome to our planetarium. We will soon start our program for today, Exploring the Northern Hemisphere Constellations. Please sit back and enjoy.”   _

The dimness of the lights slowly fades into complete darkness for a beat, then the projection is turned on, and the dome ceiling is bathed in artificial starlights. A different voice, probably that of a recording, starts taking them through the different constellations one can observe starting from spring to winter, explaining each along the way.

It’s captivating how little dots in the sky are connected together to form a story of their own. Though in earnest, Keith’s not sure he’ll be able to remember all of them, or be able to point them out on a real night sky.

Out of curiosity, he takes a peek at Lance. What kind of expression will he be wearing, Keith wonders?

Keith’s not sure what he expected, but he knows it’s not the glimpse of a tear that falls out of the corner of Lance’s eyes, or the burning intense look mixed with awe he sends the man-made sky. A breath catches in Keith’s throat, and he forces himself to look away.

When the program ends, Lance sits up with a stretch, pulling himself onto his feet with a spring to his move. “Wow...that was so awesome! It almost didn’t feel like we were inside, huh?”

“Yeah.” Keith gets to his feet, his gaze still on the now plain ceiling before shifting to meet Lance’s smile. “It was beautiful.”

Keith is not only talking about the stars.

 

* * *

 

After a heated debate on where they should get their lunch, Keith and Lance finally settle to make their decision using the long-time fairest method they know: flipping a coin. 

“Alright, so if it’s heads we’re eating satay, and if it’s tails we’re eating fish ‘n chips. Which is very boring, if I may say.”

“Shut up and flip the coin, Lance.”

Lance sticks his tongue out, but does as Keith said.

They both follow the coin as it spins mid-air and falls to the ground, twirling for a few seconds before finally dropping flat against the ground.

“Ha! No fish ‘n chips for you tonight, mister. Hell yeah, chicken satay with peanut sauce, here I come!” Pumping his fists up in the air, Lance sports a victorious grin that is met with a groan.

“Ugh, do we really have to?”

“Yup!” Lance replies in a gleeful tone, his grin cheeky.

Being Hunk’s longest friend and roommate, Keith’s not surprised that Lance’s picked up a similar adventurous taste in cuisine. Hunk loves to try, cook, and experiment, and while most of them are usually lovely, the dishes with the more unfamiliar ingredients and spices tend to make Keith uncertain to try them.

(Keith once asked Hunk what’s being served, because he can’t even begin to guess what it was.

“Oh, they’re pig ears!” was the cheerful reply, and Keith found out for the first time that people actually eat  _ pig ears _ , and he tried his best to pretend he didn’t know what exactly he was eating as he crunched away his dinner and cleared his plate with a mighty effort.)

“I mean, how do you even make a sauce out of peanuts?” Keith grumbles, even as they take their seats in the restaurant.

“I’m sure you’ll get an answer if you ask Hunk or Professor Wikipedia.” Lance thanks the waiter for the menu, and immediately hands it to Keith. “Here, I already know what I’m ordering.”

“I’ll just get the same. ...but with no peanut butter sauce?”

“You know what? I’ll get them to put it on the side, but promise you have to at least try it. Live a little, man! Try things!”

“I’ve eaten pig ears. I’ve lived enough.”

“Oooh I remember that one, yuck.” Lance makes a face, shaking his head as if saying ‘what a shame’. “Let’s hope that won’t be on the menu again. Ever.”

Lance orders for the two of them, adding two glasses of iced squeezed orange juice to their meal. When the food arrives, Lance pushes the peanut sauce plate toward Keith, his eyebrows raised expectantly. Never to back down from a challenge, Keith grabs a stick of satay from his plate and dips the tip into the sauce.

He eyes the piece of chicken meat for a moment, still uncertain, before finally thinking ‘fuck this’ and takes a bite.

...it’s not bad. The sweetness of the...soy sauce? It tastes like that sweet soy sauce Hunk made them try that one time, and the moderately-thick, smooth peanut sauce actually complement each other really well.

Keith looks up from his plate to grudgingly admit this to Lance, but the other teen is busy with his own food. Lance is mouthing his stick of satay, biting onto a piece of meat, and slides it out of the stick, chewing with a look of pure delight. And when he’s finished, he licks the remains of the sauce, his tongue dexterously getting them off his lips, and that is the moment Keith chokes.

“Oh shit! Are you okay!?” A startled Lance hurries to give a coughing Keith a glass of iced orange juice, which he accepts gratefully.

“Thanks.” Keith rasps out between sips.

“No problem, man. I know the food’s good, but damn, try not to swallow them whole.” Keith just lets out a noncommittal hum to respond to Lance’s laugh.

Right. The liking thing. He almost forgot.

The night before, Keith resolved to tell Lance about it by the end of today’s date. It feels slightly unfair to leave Lance in the dark and makes him think Keith’s taking him out because of other reasons. It might have started that way, of course, but now that he’s realized his feelings, Keith feels like he’s just riding on Shiro’s coattails. Sleeping on the bed Shiro has made.

He wants the two them to properly start. To make these dates of theirs their own.

Keith’s tried to imagine the different ways Lance might react, but he always comes to a blank. All he can do now is to take a deep breath, and speak.

“I–” “You–”

The two promptly clamp their mouth shut, staring at each other.

“Uh, you go ahead.” Keith shrugs and gestures with his hand for Lance to go first.

“Nah, it’s fine. You go.” Lance starts to fidget, and Keith is nervous enough that he wants to do the same.

Here goes.

“It’s…I…” He’s done simulation in his head so many times on how he’s going to say it, but he supposes it’s not so easy to do it out loud. Keith clears his throat and starts again. “I’ve just realised recently that I…have feelings. Romantic feelings. For you. So I’m wondering if, uh, you’d like to go out with me?”

“…wha?”

Keith heaves a sigh, thwarting the urge to cover his face with his hands. “I’m asking you if you’d want to date me, Lance.”

“No, no, I got that.” Lance waves his hand, as if dismissing something, his face still unreadable. “It’s just…you have ‘romantic feelings’? You could’ve just said you like me, dude.”

“Really, Lance? Out of all the things, you have to comment on my word choice?” Though Keith tries to appear nonchalant, rolling his eyes and folding his arms, he’s internally screaming.

“Sorry, sorry.” Lance winces, scrubbing his face, then peeking  through the space between his fingers, his cheeks blooming red. It’s not helping that Lance is acting  _ cute  _ now, goddammit. “God, I need a moment to get my head around this. You like  _ me _ ? Like, like  _ like  _ me? Really??”

“Yes, Lance, I like  _ like _ you! Really! Oh my god!” Keith throws his hands in the air in exasperation, and finally succumbs and buries his face into his hands. Liking Lance doesn’t magically make him stop feeling irritated whenever Lance gets like this, apparently. It just means he also wants to see Lance laugh, and also kiss him in the meantime.

“But you hate me! You’re always such an ass and you’re always scowling at me! Seriously, me?!” 

“Because  _ you _ were being an ass and  _ you  _ keep scowling at me. And  _ yes _ , you.”

“Oh. Right.” Lance bites his lower lip and after a brief pause, huffs out a nervous laugh. “You know, I was gonna ask you why you kissed me the other day, but I guess this answers it. Welp, and I thought I was gonna be the one making things awkward!”

“Gee, thanks.” Keith deadpans. “Though I’m pretty sure you’re not helping the situation.”

“Okay okay, so I can understand you not actually hating my guts, but I still can’t get that…you like me? Like, how did that happen?”

“I’d like an answer to that question too.”  

“Are you really sure you like me? ‘Cause someone’s acting a little bit touchy.” Lance points at Keith with his straw, squinting in scrutiny, trying to find whatever it is he’s trying to find on Keith’s face. “Though it'll be totally gross if you suddenly start writing me love poems, so please don't do that."

"You can stop worrying about that, I can't write poems to save a life." Keith furrows his eyebrows in thought. He still can't decide whether Lance's response is positive or negative. Can't he just simply say yes or no? "So...what do we do now?"

"Why are you asking me!? You're the one who confessed!" Lance blushes again and squirms in his seat. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that. Anyways, do you, uh, want us to be in a relationship or something?"

"Yes? I think? Eventually." Still unable to settle his nerves, Keith picks on his napkin, and starts tearing it into little pieces. “I’m not forcing you into anything. But I’d like it if you’re willing to give it a try. Are we still up for the last date? Maybe we can take it from there?”

“I guess we can do that...” Lance fiddles with his straw, sipping the last remains of his juice. “Hey Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for telling me this, man. I mean, I still don’t know how I feel about this because it’s so sudden, you know? What’s with that thing with Shiro just happened a while ago it’s just still a bit weird, but I don’t think I want to say no. Give me some time to think?” The tentative shy smile Lance gives him eases the tension that lines Keith’s shoulders. Then the smile stretches further to form a smirk. “So come at me and do your best wooing me, lover boy.”

“Oh, you’re on.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was craving chicken satay so bad when I was writing this lol


	6. Sunday Morning Rain is Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter you guys!! I had fun writing this one. 
> 
> Thank you for reading until the very end, thank you for all the kudos and comments, thank you for being here. You guys rock.

Keith has a Plan for the last date. 

 A foolproof, Plan of Plans that will make the last date not their last. The perfect date that is sure to land him even more dates with Lance in the future, if he gets everything right. Even after Pidge had run through the Plan, she had given him nothing but raised eyebrows and a thumbs up.  

 The Plan that instantly goes out the window the moment rain comes pouring down when Keith is on his way to pick up Lance at his place.

 “Are you kidding me!?” He shouts up to the sky as he sprints, the rain falling too heavily to even bother shielding himself from it. “Do you _really_ have to do this today!?”

 He arrives at Lance’s doorstep feeling miserable and drenched, a scowl plastered on his face. 

 “Someone looks nice today.” Lance quips, quirking an eyebrow at him when he opens the door, which only makes Keith scowl harder. The other teen’s line of sight then shifts to the object in Keith’s hand, his eyes widening slightly. “Holy shit, are those for me?”

 Keith holds the now sad excuse of a bouquet up, a small bunch of gerberas in bright, cheerful colours, as thoroughly wet as he currently is. He hesitates at first. The bouquet is far from its pristine condition, and to his eyes, in no condition to be presented as a gift.

  _To hell with it._ Keith has spent the money and effort to buy this thing for Lance, so to Lance’s hands it shall go. “Yeah.” It comes out a little raspy, so he clears his throat and tries again. “Yeah. Here, it’s for you.”

 “Aww, thanks. You’re going all out today with the romantic stuff, huh?” Lance accepts the flowers and opens the door wider, a silent invitation to come in. When Keith makes no move, he raises both his eyebrows in incredulity. “Please don’t tell me you’re still thinking of going out today. The TV said there’s going to be a storm out there, just now. We better stay put.”

 A storm. Of course, just his luck. Even though today didn’t start out great, Keith thought they could brave the rain and salvage the rest of the date. Today out of all days, a fucking _storm_. Great.

 Keith finally accepts the offer and takes a step into Hunk and Lance’s apartment, raking a hand through his soaked hair. He bites his lower lip to prevent a groan from escaping his lips, feeling the frustration crawling under his skin. The Plan is officially thwarted now.

 “Go straight to the bathroom, I’ll go get you a fresh towel and some change.” Lance says over his shoulders, already padding his way towards his bedroom. 

 Keith does as Lance instructed, mumbling a thanks when Lance hands him the items. Quickly stripping and rinsing his body in hot water, Keith wipes his body down with the towel in relief. He puts on the borrowed clothing, pausing when he casts a glance to the mirror. The shirt hangs comfortably off his frame, and the sweatpants feel snug, thanks to the two of them being of similar size. But it’s the fact that they’re Lance’s clothes that causes the red tinge spreading across Keith’s cheeks. 

 It feels like a _couple_ thing, though they’re not a couple. Not yet.

 “Oh good, they fit.” Lance comments when Keith is back, joining him on the sofa. The gerberas are placed inside of a mug filled with water on the table in front of them, looking damp and droopy. At least their colours make up for it, bringing some cheer that Keith sorely needs. 

 “Where’s Hunk?” Keith looks around, belatedly noticing the absence of the other resident of the apartment.

“He went to Shay’s place early, before it started pouring. Said they’re having a study date.” Lance replies, absently fiddling with the string of his jumper. “Sooooo, you have anything in mind for today?”

 Oh, Keith can think of quite a few things. They just can’t do it all because they’re stuck inside for the time being. Keith exhales a long-suffering sigh. “Not particularly. You got any movies you want to watch?”

 “Nah, I have a better idea actually.” The shit-eating grin splitting Lance’s face usually doesn’t bode anything good. But what the hell, there’s nothing better to do anyways. “You got some skills on DDR, Keith?” 

 

* * *

 

“Ha, perfect combo! Eat that! Score a gazillion to Lance, boo yeah!” Lance says between pants, raising both his arms up in a victory pose before stepping away from the dancepad to collapse into the sofa. “Whew, I’m beat!”

“You shoved me on the last minute, you cheating asshole.” Keith growls out, also diving for the sofa, feeling the sweat trickling down his back. They’ve gone through god knows how many songs, and Lance had insisted on playing the hardest level from the very start. All the jumping and cursing had worn both of them out. 

“You tried to trip me first, you jerk!” Lance squawks out in defense, wiping his own sweat from his temple.

Keith snickers at the memory of Lance flailing around, throwing curses at him, while Keith cackled and danced his way to a personal high score. A giggle joins him, and when they share a glance, they both burst into uncontrollable laughter. 

“You should’ve heard that ridiculous sound you made,” Keith wheezes the words out, gasping between breaths. “When you fell down on your _butt_.”   

“Well you should’ve seen your  _ face _ when I shoved you that last time.” Lance wipes the tears from the corner of his eyes, taking deep breaths while clutching his stomach. The mirth disappears from Lance’s eyes when his stomach lets out an unexpected growl. They pause, staring at each other, and Keith watches in fascination as Lance’s cheeks turn pink. “Um, well, that’s embarrassing. Guess all the exercise made me hungry. Lunch time?”

“Sure,” Keith says softly, his eyes still latching on to Lance. His brain urges him to run his fingers against Lance’s cheeks, to feel the warmth of his skin, but he shuts notion down before he can’t help himself. Patience. Not yet. “Will they have deliveries out in this kind of weather?”

“Doubt it. I want to count on pizza, but I feel bad for their delivery guy,” Lance hoists himself up and makes his way to the fridge. “I can offer you cup noodle or last night’s leftovers, your pick. Or, actually, we can just have all of them. I’m starving.”

“Sounds good to me.” Keith stands up and joins Lance in the kitchen. “Need some help?”

Opening the fridge, Lance gestures at one of the top cabinets. “I’ll heat up the food, you go prepare the cup noodles. They should be in there, or the shelf next to it. Hot water is in the thermos.”

“Okay.”

They prepare the food in relative silence, bringing everything with them to the sofa when the task is done. Lance puts on the TV, flicking through the channels before settling on a wildlife documentary program to watch as they eat.

Hunk’s menu for dinner last night was chicken curry, which tastes divine, even after spending a night in the fridge. The curry is rich in flavour, the chicken is juicy, and Keith wishes there’s more of it, polishing his plate clean all too quickly. He moves on to the cup noodle with less enthusiasm, though quickly warming up to it after a few sips of the broth. The warmth it sends throughout his body is comforting in a rainy day like this.

“Just to be clear, this is still a date, right?” Lance’s sudden question almost made Keith choke on his noodle. 

He coughs a few times to clear his throat, and contemplates his answer. If he says no, does this mean he gets a re-do of the date he had actually planned on another day? But that feels too much like a lie. They’re having fun, and they’re spending time with just the two of them. Keith might be rather blind at romance, but he’s pretty sure that’s the textbook definition of a date.

“Uh. Yes?” Keith turns and blinks at Lance’s expectant face.

“Cool, cool. So shouldn’t we be doing, I don’t know, something to get to know each other better?” Lance finishes the statement with a long slurp of his noodle.

“But I already know you.” Keith knits his eyebrow in confusion. What is Lance getting at?

“Yeahh, but you don’t know  _ know _ me. Like, do you know what my favourite colour is?”

“Blue.” Keith answers confidently. It’s not a long stretch, given how most of Lance’s items, and perhaps half of his wardrobe, comes in different shades of blue. 

Lance squints his eyes suspiciously at Keith. “That’s a lucky guess. Most people’s favourite colour is blue. Do you know how many siblings I have?”

Shit. Keith’s not sure about the answer to this one. “...you have a sister?” 

“I have three sisters. And an older brother. See? I mean, we don’t know things like this about each other.” Lance points his fingers back and forth from Keith to himself. 

“So what do you propose us to do?” 

After they clean up after their lunch, they decide to take turns throwing questions at each other, most of them mundane questions regarding preferences, likes and dislikes.  

(Muffin or cupcake? Keith prefers muffins, and Lance prefers cupcakes.

Cats or dogs? Keith answers cats, though he’s never had one, while Lance cheats and answers both. 

White or dark chocolate? Keith answers dark, and Lance answers milk, even though it’s not included in the options. 

Tea or coffee? They both answer both.)

But then, of course Lance has to pull some kind of shit like this.

“So have you ever had a crush on Shiro?” 

If Keith doesn’t like the guy, he would’ve headbutted Lance immediately. With a frown marring his face, Keith answers curtly. “No.”

“No?? Seriously??” Lance adjusts his position on the sofa so that he’s facing Keith properly, his eyes shining in curiosity. “You don’t have to lie, I won’t tell anyone, promise. Like, seriously? Not even for a bit?”

“I’ve known Shiro since we were a child. He’s like a brother to me.” Keith deadpans, really not liking where this is going.

“Yeah, sure, but I mean, even then. No? Really?” Lance leans back, looking baffled. “Huh. But do you think Shiro is attractive? Come on, you have eyes, you must notice that Shiro is smoking hot, right? Look at those arms, those shoulders.”

That’s it. 

“Why are you talking about another guy on our date?” That causes Lance to promptly shut his mouth and the other teen’s eyes bulge slightly.  

“Oh. Uh. Sorry..?” Lance grins sheepishly, and damn if it doesn’t make Keith’s annoyance melt. He tries not to show it though, still maintaining a scowl and crossing his arms in a display of indignation. 

“Do you really think so little about my feelings? I feel hurt.” Though the anger in his voice is faked, the statement rings true. He knows Shiro is attractive, anyone with a working pair of eyes knows that. Doesn’t mean he wants to hear Lance talking all about it. 

“I’m sorry! It’s just–you’re just so protective of him that it makes one wonder, you know?” Lance splutters the words in panic, his arms raised to placate Keith. “I didn’t think–I didn’t mean–god, I’m so sorry.” 

“I’ll forgive you if you’ll give me one thing.” Keith blurts out, an impulse at the sudden glimpse of opportunity, his heart giving a kick and starts pounding. Will this be okay? Is he going to cross a line? 

“Give you what?” 

Where’s the patience he’s been holding onto for so long?  _ Fuck it _ , Keith thinks,  _ It’s now or never. I’ll live with the consequences. _

“A kiss?” It comes out more like a question than a request. 

He can feel the blush spreading across his face, up to his ears. If he can see his own reflection, he must look bright red right now. An equally pink Lance is dazed, gaping at him, opening and closing his mouth like a fish.  

Keith expects Lance to laugh it off, he even expects Lance to get angry. What he doesn’t expect is for Lance to nod his assent. “Alright. Okay. Um. But you have to close your eyes. Swear you won’t peek.”

He can only nod dumbly back, not believing his luck, obediently shutting his eyelids as he’s told and waits.

The sound of his blood pumping in his ears is so loud, Keith can’t focus on anything else. Not knowing where the kiss will land feels like torture, making him feel too conscious of every inch of his face. Will it be on his forehead? His cheek? His nose? 

When the kiss is pressed against his lips, a fleeting, gentle brush, it steals Keith’s breath away. He unconsciously leans forward when Lance pulls away, chasing after another second, another touch. 

At the same time he wants to scream and grab Lance by his collar and shake him, because  _ really? _

Keith opens his eyes to the sight of Lance, red to the ears, hiding his flushed face behind his hands.  “...you know, you could’ve kissed me literally anywhere else but my mouth.”

“ _ Why didn’t you tell me that sooner!?” _ Lance shrieks in mortification, turning even redder if that’s even possible. Keith covers his lips with his hand, hiding a grin. “I’m such an idiot…”

“Hey, you don’t see me complaining.” He nudges Lance’s shoulder with his own, receiving a pained glare in return. 

“Shut your trap, Keith.” Lance squeaks, jabbing an elbow into his side, which only makes Keith grins wider. “Ugh. Since when did you become this smooth?” 

Did what Keith pulled count as being smooth? He did get a kiss out of it, so he supposes he was. “I guess ever since I fell for you.”

“Quiznak on a stick, I take that back. You’re awful. So goddamn awful, please don’t say that again.” Lance is clearly flustered, the blush that has faded coming back full force. An idea pops into Keith’s head.

“Ever since I realized that I like your smile, and that I like it even more when I’m the one causing it.”

“Holy fuc–no, stop, Keith, don’t do this, man.” Keith catches Lance’s wrist to prevent him from squirming away, the other man starts blushing furiously.  

“You’re the one who told me to woo you, so here I am. Wooing you.” Lance tries to wriggle away from his clutches, but Keith keeps his hold. “Ever since I realized how much I hate seeing you upset. Ever since I realized how much I love spending time with you. Ever since I realized how much I don’t like you talking about how hot Shiro is, especially during our date.”

“Hey, I apologized for that one already!” Lance protests.

“And ever since I realized how cute you look when you’re embarrassed.” Keith whispers the last one, leaning forward until their forehead touch. He can see the way Lance’s throat moves as he swallows, noticing how the blush creeps prettily down his neck.  

 _To hell with patience_ , he thinks and raises a hand to the crook of Lance’s neck, stroking his way up to the jaw and staying there. He looks into Lance’s eyes for permission, and getting one in the way Lance flutters his eyelids shut. 

The sight before him makes his breath catch, his stomach feeling like there’s a swarm of butterflies being released into it. Here goes.

Keith closes the distance between them, pressing a slow kiss on the corner of Lance’s lips before taking another one full on the lips, taking his time to commit the experience into his memory. Lance’s lips are soft, he thinks distractedly, probably thanks to the amount of care and lip products he put on it. Keith decides that he likes how they feel pressed against his, warm and pliant, pulling back slightly only to dive back again for more.  

_ No wonder people were so obsessed about kissing back in high school,  _ are his last thoughts before he withdraws, feeling slightly heady. Keith takes deep breaths to steady his pounding heart, his senses conflictingly calm and on edge at the same time.

He blinks his eyes open slowly, to find Lance staring back at him. Rubbing his thumb against Lance’s cheek, Keith speaks out the words in a hushed tone. “Will you be my boyfriend, Lance?”

“You’re so unfair,” Lance breathes out. “You and your pretty face, dammit.”

 “Is that a yes or a no?” Keith is so far gone, he can’t even bring himself to be annoyed. “Wait, you think I’m pretty?” 

“Everyone within a five-meter radius from you thinks you’re pretty, Keith. Get over it.” Lance rolls his eyes exaggeratedly, but the smile forming across his lips is fond. Taking courage, Keith releases his hold on Lance’s wrist to take his hand instead, lacing their fingers together. “Look, I’ve given it some thought. I really had fun when you took me out on dates. You even brought me flowers today, man, no one’s ever bought flowers for me before, and I think that’s really sweet. And I’m beyond flattered when you said you like me, I mean, wow, sometimes I still wonder if it’s real. What I’m saying is–” 

Keith squeezes their clasped hand, silently making his point. “Lance, yes or no.”

“Hold your horses, lover boy, I’m not done yet.” Lance admonishes, and goes straight back into his rambling. “Okay, so there’s that whole thing with Shiro, and I don’t want you thinking just because I got rejected–”

“ _ Lance. _ ” Keith gives his hand a not-so-gentle yank. “Yes. Or no.”

“Oh my god, yes! Yes, I’ll be your boyfriend, you impatient little shi–oomf!”

Keith doesn’t wait another second to pull Lance into another kiss, one hand tugging him close and another wrapped around the other’s waist. He finds that kissing is the best way to shut Lance up, his mind still reeling over the fact that Lance has said the most important word. He’s said  _ yes _ . 

The kiss doesn’t last long, both pulling away to study the other’s face. Lance beams at Keith, while Keith is doing his best to keep his giddiness at bay.

“I actually wanted to take you out on the perfect date before asking you that.” Keith admits, still refusing to let the matter lie. 

“Oh? And what’s this perfect date you’ve got planned out?” Lance shifts closer so that they’re now shoulder to shoulder, their hands still linked.  

“I was going to take you to the arcade, get us some crepes, then visit a cat cafe.” Keith lists off the top of his head. “And do something to get you to give me a kiss.” 

Lance barks out a laugh and rests his head on Keith’s shoulder. “At least you got to do that last one. And those do sound fun, let’s do that for our next date!”  

“Yeah?” Keith nuzzles Lance’s hair, planting a soft kiss on his brown locks.

 “You’re going to be a living, breathing personification of PDA, aren’t you?” Lance teases but doesn’t pull away, so Keith takes it as an encouragement.

“You got a problem with that?” He lifts their joined hands up, dropping a kiss on the back of Lance’s hand.

“Just gonna need some getting used to.” Lance’s cheeks bloom with a rosy tint, and Keith’s heart clenches at the sight. “Boy, someone should’ve warned me that your wooing game is no joke. I’ve never even seen you flirt, and here you are spouting lines like those. It’s like someone flipped a switch, jacking up your romancing skills.”

Keith shrugs away the remark, not knowing if that’s the accurate way to say it. He still doesn’t understand romance all that much, and he had had help from many sources. For this time, he mostly went with his gut. “I’m just good at going for what I want, I guess.”

“Cheeky bastard.” His boyfriend chuckles, and they stay like that, huddled close to each other until the rain ebbs and the sky clears.

 

* * *

 

“Pidge, you wanna see something neat?”

“If it involves you and Keith being gross, then no. Get a room, you two. Don’t desecrate our movie night.”

“Oh, come on! It’s nothing like that!” Lance whines, his bottom lip jutting out into a pout. “You gotta see this, Keith still gets all territorial when I get close to Shiro, even though we’ve dated for–how many months already now? It’s too cute.”

“I do not.” Keith denies vehemently, opting to remain stone faced when Lance sidles up to Shiro and waggles his eyebrows teasingly at him. Shiro just gives out an awkward laugh, telling Lance to cut it out.

“That, right there. That is the very definition of gross, guys.” Pidge deadpans, looking very much done.

“Be grateful you don’t live with one of them, Pidge. You haven’t seen the truly gross things yet.” Hunk groans, giving both Lance and Keith an exasperated stare. “Seriously, guys. Keep it PG-rated for the public.”   


“We’re not gross! Tell them that we’re the cutest couple, Keith!” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Keith pulls a huffing Lance into his lap, circling his arms around the other teen’s waist to quieten him down. “Settle down, the movie’s starting.”


End file.
